topic Re: GDL: Maybe Im in the wrong place in GDL

GDL: Maybe Im in the wrong place

Aurasphere — Wed, 19 Jun 2024 10:58:00 GMT

Maybe I was posting on the wrong board or something but where is the best place to get more advanced GDL help

eg I am trying reimplement some legacy quanities etc and the List layout text file no longer works for the listing component listing scheme.

I previously used

FORMAT "#(TOTAL[7]):16.2 " to format output in the layout...now the output is simply 16.2 instead of the formatted value previously displayed...see pic below in (TOTAL[7])

Who would I talk to about what has changed ie why it no longer works...last time was back in v18 I think

EDIT: It seems that it no longer allows maths like this

FORMAT "#(TOTAL[7]/QUANTITY[7]):12.2"

Cheers

Re: GDL: Maybe Im in the wrong place

Lingwisyer — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 01:19:36 GMT

Python?

Re: GDL: Maybe Im in the wrong place

Aurasphere — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 01:58:19 GMT

Its the layout language for Archicad listings

Re: GDL: Maybe Im in the wrong place

Karl Ottenstein — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 02:02:58 GMT

Yes, all of your posts were in the wrong place (Libraries) ... instead of here (GDL). The Libraries and Objects forum is for using existing objects and managing libraries... nothing about coding goes there... it all goes here. I'll move your other posts to this forum.

Re: GDL: Maybe Im in the wrong place

Karl Ottenstein — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 02:08:58 GMT

The List layout, database, property objects etc has been deprecated for many years. I'm really not sure at all why Graphisoft just killed it but left it as part of the product since it isn't particularly useful any longer - notably because property objects cannot be associated with "modern" elements and extract data from them.

There is no hope that this will be developed further, as only a handful of people ever understood how it worked - powerful as it was. So, you can try to make something happen, but shouldn't expect any help from Graphisoft much less any bug fixing. Again, for something deprecated like this, I really don't know why it is still included in the product...

Re: GDL: Maybe Im in the wrong place

Aurasphere — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 02:22:39 GMT

Thanks Karl!

Re: GDL: Maybe Im in the wrong place

Aurasphere — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 04:39:28 GMT

Yeah...its like many Archicad features (and sadly some other brilliant products), if only it was finished to make it accessible and some good training resources.

I would be pretty upset if they dropped it without an equivalent function mechanism...especially now that BIM is mature and "other" packages are doing things very well also.

All the new ie 'propertes' is very limited in context to working in larger organisation with in house quantity survey. I did have a look around before I resurrected this...but I forgot how amazingly simple and powerful it can be with just a little excel to manage the larger labour.

Thanks again

Re: GDL: Maybe Im in the wrong place

Karl Ottenstein — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 15:38:28 GMT

If you have used it, you would also know that it has not been touched at all in well over 20 years…perhaps even 25. So it has never been a feature that could be relied upon, in spite of its potential.

Re: GDL: Maybe Im in the wrong place

Aurasphere — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 18:11:12 GMT

lol

and thats the beauty of it...so robust and still brilliant (despite the graphic layout trauma), 20 years later 😉

Re: GDL: Maybe Im in the wrong place

Aurasphere — Mon, 24 Jun 2024 11:10:05 GMT

Karl, there def seems to be a bug in it...even just the basic AC27 library listings like eg Components by Keys/Long don't show any fields that have any maths done in the layout

eg Component/Keys

In summary, any field in the listing that is not a simple format

#Value[7] will result in no output shown

Re: GDL: Maybe Im in the wrong place

Karl Ottenstein — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 23:20:42 GMT

I wasn't clear I guess? If there are bugs, they won't be fixed... the code for this has not been touched in 20 years. There is no point in talking about what doesn't work 🙄

Re: GDL: Maybe Im in the wrong place

Aurasphere — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 03:24:27 GMT

Yes sorry, you were clear but must have been clouded by my optimism...that some others actually might see the value in it.

All of that was working quite nicely...until at least v18 but something broke along the way

Cheers (sobs loudly on pressing send 😞

BTW it could have easily been made useful if it simply followed the 2 principles of BIM qs

1. Recipes (Tick 🙂

BUT

2. Allow attachment of multiple property objects which I asked for many times...must have been good coders on board but not necessarily QS guys

Re: GDL: Maybe Im in the wrong place

Barry Kelly — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 03:47:26 GMT

The old List Scheme was quite good in that you could create quite complex calculations in the Property Objects, so you could get very detailed quantities.

I never did get into the database side of things, so I am not sure if that was better for costings with the ability to link a costing database to multiple files.

I haven't used in it at least 15 years, so I can't comment on why the format command no longer works - I don't even recall using it.

I only ever just spat out simple lists of quantities, I didn't bother with formatting them so they were printable in their own right.

Most can be done now with Interactive Schedules and Expressions in Properties.

Although you can not do such complex calculations - and if you can it it much harder to achieve (in my opinion).

It is also not a good place to do actual costings, because the costs/rates can only be maintained in that one file.

It is not like having a central database that you can update that will be reflected in all files linked to it.

Barry.

Re: GDL: Maybe Im in the wrong place

Aurasphere — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 04:23:34 GMT

Thanks Barry

Actually the full costings database was easily executed out of the estimating data base as a text file that was read directly into archicad. The estimating package was upstream of course and AC was the executor so it was always sync in round trip back into the (estimating) database but now with the accurate quantities filled out.

ie the lib folder with comp.txt etc IS actually linked to all downstream/cyclic files and you can easily set multiple suppliers

I wrote the data (in this case) directly to a text file that was actually linked back into the estimating system (via the est. ODBC and was reasonably fast with the lean text files that AC can put out)

It was also very cool to create all your key notes in the same format and use the property add on to look it all up and be able to admin via the Edit database actions.

The main strength for me was transparent connection to the estimating department...still unable to do it...get close with CostX but unfortunately the I.S. are a very long way behind but def simpler and faster

Cheers